Funeral procession for axed bus service

Mike Clarke leads the procession to mark the end of the road for the number 32 Memory Lane service.

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BUSES formed a funeral procession at Dorking station on Sunday to mark the end of the number 32 Memory Lane service to Guildford.

Several regular passengers and bus enthusiasts lined the pavement to watch the vehicles depart on their last journey.

Leading the six buses at the start was the company’s proprietor, Mike Clarke, who carried an axe to signify the demise of the service.

“The axe is a symbol of the axing of the service by Surrey County Council which has withdrawn our subsidy,” he explained.

“There will now be no Sunday, bank holiday or weekday evening services between Dorking and Guildford. The route from Dorking station to Flint Hill is also cancelled.”

Memory Lane has run the Dorking to Guildford service for nearly five years carrying an average of 110 passengers each Sunday. A pool of 12 drivers took turn behind the wheel.

“These jobs have now gone and I am left with a surplus of vehicles which I am not sure what to do with,” added Mr Clarke.

“Our guys liked operating the service and many of the passengers were regular local people who got to know the drivers. These passengers now have no buses but they need public transport as they don’t have their own cars.”

The service is a casualty of cutbacks ordered by County Hall which has said it cannot meet demands for greater subsidies by the bus companies.

The companies have suffered problems with increased costs including higher insurance and fuel charges.

But Mr Clarke places much of the blame on County Hall’s demands for expensive improvements including upgrading the vehicles.

“In nearly five years of operating the 32 service my subsidy has increased by just 7.5%,” he added. “It is ridiculous that the county council has got itself into this situation.”

He said many former passengers had asked him what they could do to get the service reinstated.

“All I could suggest was that they write to the county council and complain but it would take at least two months before we could complete the paperwork to get started again,” he said.

“From our point of view it is now in the past. Whether we will ever get the opportunity to start up again I am not sure.”